A rainy Sunday afternoon

The brief period before a summer rainstorm is always enticing; the way the wind picks up speed and fills everything with a wet scent of anticipation.

I particularly enjoy watching the clouds take shape. The grey forms twist and turn rapidly in the sky conjuring new patterns every minute, as the world beneath falls into darkness — not the type of darkness that nightfall brings — but rather a more diffused and benevolent kind. The sun has already hidden itself at this point. Yet, golden cones of light leak out through the partially formed clouds and illuminate random parts of the landscape.

Like all other beautiful transitions, this lasts only for a few minutes. The light-cones close in on themselves soon and the sky takes on a dark shade of grey. The first raindrops make the skin shiver.

The corridors connecting the various blocks of our hostel are open on both sides. Wind and water sweep through them during rainstorms, and this is where we gather on such occassions to get wet and discuss the important stuff. On this particular day, that happened to be the four leaked episodes of Game of Thrones. Fake spoilers and farfetched speculations were making their rounds. We were having a fine time in the rising wind, waiting for the rain to start.

The world went from dark to invisible in seconds, as rain and ice came down ferociously. The tiny pieces of hail shattered into tinier fragments upon impact and some took this opportunity to shove them down each other’s back. The wind was strong enough to make us slide on the wet floor while standing still.

Things calmed down somewhat after the initial vigour, and soon it was just another normal, heavy downpour. We hung around and chatted for a while, expressing confusion at the sight of some girls standing on the rooftop under open umbrellas, and observing few juniors dance on the water tanks.

I retired to my room to watch a movie. The rain had stopped by the time I was done, leaving behind wet roads and a slight chill.